Saturday, 25 August 2012

These products are my first foray into Paintbox Soapworks. For those of you not in the know, the company make artisan soaps, scrubs, lotions and potions in a variety of interesting scents, sold via handmade goods powerhouse Etsy. Sorbetto is an emulsifying sugar scrub, and Slip is a hand and body lotion.

I chose to pick up the Sorbetto in Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground, described as "the quiet, introspective side of fall", with notes of "woodsmoke, rustling leaves & the dark chill of an autumn night." It's a little more patchouli heavy than I'd imagined - perhaps a little too much for my own liking - but otherwise, the description is bang on - it's highly evocative of that rich, earthy scent you get during the autumn in woodlands. The scrub itself is rather lovely, and gentle enough to use reasonably frequently - the emulsifying action means that it's not massively intensive. The scent is gloriously intense in the shower, but doesn't linger on the skin after use.

The Immaculate Confection is a gloriously sweet fragrance with notes of chocolate, vanilla, honeycomb, and all things delicious. The scent makes me a little hungry, and I almost want to eat my own arm when it's coated in this stuff. I'm not normally one for body lotion - I hate having even slightly tacky or coated feeling limbs - but this one is a keeper. It's light, wonderfully slippy, and sinks in very quickly, leaving absolutely no residue on the skin whatsoever. The scent lingers on the skin for a good couple of hours before it fades.

Unfortunately, Paintbox Soapworks don't have these two specific products in stock any more - such is the nature of a small supplier producing small batches - but I'd highly recommend the texture of Slip, and whilst I've not been bowled over by Sorbetto, I do think it's a nice, gentle scrub I'd happily use again. Prices are around £6.50 for Sorbetto, and £5.20 for Slip - definitely not cheap, but given the interestingly different fragrances and the fact that you're supporting a small business, they're prices I'm willing to pay.

Find the range at the Paintbox Soapworks Etsy shop. Be warned that shipping is rather expensive, so it's generally worth buying more than one product at a time (like you need an excuse to do that!).

Thank you so much for your lovely review, Gemma! Fear not - I'll have Dead Leaves scrub back in stock today, with new water-resistant labels & more product packed in each jar, & The Immaculate Confection will be back in the spring, just in time for Easter-related gluttony :)